Kingfisher Again

The same Kingfisher in the same place as two days ago, again at very close range!  Light very poor.

One of four colour ringed birds seen today.  This Common Gull (Red AW22) was probably ringed in Germany.  Details awaited.

Little Marlow - Kingfisher at Close Quarters

I decided to visit to Little Marlow GP mid afternoon to check out the wildfowl and gulls.  As I drove down the concrete road a mass of birds were milling over the lake.  I later found out from Jackie Newcombe that I had just missed a Peregrine!  Unfortunately it was not to reappear but it did spook the birds for the rest of the afternoon.

Numbers of ducks and gulls have recently increased as the weather gets colder.  In particular Common Gull numbers now increasing significantly.  The four regular gull species were present in numbers, plus five Greater Black-backed Gulls and one Caspian Gull (I think!  See below).

I saw one colour ringed adult Black-headed Gull  "Green JY60".  This individual was ringed in Oslo, Norway on 10th April 2015 and is the first sighting away from Oslo.  A distance of 1172 Km!

I was stood with Kevin Holt on the end of the point on the west side when a Kingfisher landed in the bushes overhanging the water just 20 feet away!  It stayed there for perhaps five minutes or so.  We stood as still as possible while getting cameras ready.  Probably the closest I have ever been to a Kingfisher while it was fishing!  Incredible.

As I left large numbers of Jackdaws were arriving to roost, probably well over 1000 and two Snipe were still trying to hide along the edge of the sand spit.

Kingfisher - This digiscoped image filled the camera frame.

Caspian Gull (Hopefully!)- Possibly the same bird seen by Paul Watts yesterday.  Rather distant and in  fading light.

Dorney Lake

Another visit to try and see the long staying Velvet Scoter and hopefully to see the recently found Jack Snipe.  I arrived in bright sunlight which made viewing the return lake a little difficult.  An initial scan from the start end failed to find the target bird so I walked along the causeway.  There were a few workmen in a boat at the start of the return lake, so a search for the Jack Snipe seen yesterday by Adam Basset was fruitless.  A probable Stonechat at the start end was elusive but I did come across another two along the edge of the return lake.  Then a duck in flight, flashing white in the wings caught my eye and sure enough, it was the Velvet Scoter.  It landed and remained around the 250 metres mark on the return lake for a time before flying virtually the whole length of the 2km lake!  I came across it again at the 1250 metre mark while checking out the Wigeon and Teal and managed a few photos.  It was almost constantly on the move which made digiscoping difficult.  On walking back past the start of the return lake, I scanned for the Jack Snipe, not holding out a lot of hope, as it could have been anywhere along the 8km of vegetation covered lake edges!  However, there it was between the two groups of orange buoys where Adam had described.  No other birds of note but very happy with the two main target birds.

Velvet Scoter showing a foot which is not obviously webbed..

Jack Snipe Seen near the start end of the return lake.

Bucks MEGA - Velvet Scoters

A message about 10:20 that two Velvet Scoters were present on Willen Lake, Milton Keynes was certainly of interest!  There have only been four prior records in the county (plus one at Old Slade NR which is now part of Berks).  The last one was in 2006 which did not stay very long and I did not see it.  So I teamed up with Mike and Rose Collard for the one hour drive to the lake.
We arrived about 13:45 and soon found the Scoters feeding about 100 metres away.  For the first 30 minutes or so they were both actively diving but then this stopped and one went to sleep.
Thanks to Paul Moon for finding the birds and to Sion Nichols for getting the news out.

Immature male Velvet Scoters

Hesketh Out Marsh and Marshside RSPB Reserves

A few hours birding with my daughter Katherine.  First of all we headed to Hesketh Out Marsh which is a relatively new RSPB reserve.  Situated where the river Ribble joins the sea, just to the north of Southport. it is a large area of saltmarsh.  Access is to the sea wall where a hide provides very little shelter from the elements!

Apart the Wigeon and Whooper Swans pictured below the birds seen included Pink-footed Geese, Teal, Shelduck, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Grey Plover, Little Egret, Curlew, Redshank, Snipe and a group of Tree Sparrows.

Hesketh Out Marsh RSPB Reserve

Hesketh Out Marsh - A small part of the thousands of Wigeon present.

Whooper Swans - These six flew in while we were there.

We left Hesketh Out Marsh and made the short journey to Marshside RSPB reserve.  Marshside is situated just to the north of Southport and is freshwater marsh next to salt water marsh.  One or two hides are available, The Sandgrounder hide is comfortable with good views across the marsh.

A Cattle Egret turned up at Marshside in July and up to five have been seen.  Three were present while we were on site, albeit rather distant.  We were fortunate to see a Peregrine fly across the reserve, flushing thousands of birds.  Later a Sparrowhawk also caused some disturbance, as did a Buzzard and a Kestrel.  Also present were Black-tailed Godwits, Curlew, Redshank, Snipe, Ruff, Snipe, Grey Plover, Pink-footed Geese, Teal and lots of Wigeon.

Marshside RSPB - View from the hide.

Not a great photo but one of the rarest bird present!  A Cattle Egret doing what it does best!

Tree Sparrows

While Tree Sparrows are all but extinct in Buckinghamshire, they are apparently not so scarce in Lancashire.  Today we walked with the grandchildren along a track close to their home.  The track runs across farmland between Leyland and Bretherton.  I found Tree Sparrows here last year and was pleased to find a flock of about 20 in the same area, feeding on the track and in a hedgerow.

Tree Sparrows

Also seen were Yellowhammers, Bullfinches, Redwing and a single Fieldfare.